Appropriateness of Antibiotic Prescription During Teleconsultation.

Teleconsultation has become a new means of using care which has taken off significantly since the COVID crisis, The pooling of the technological environment within the TC makes it possible to set up practice reviews by reusing the data collected. Our aim was to evaluate the relevance of antibiotic therapy during teleconsultations carried out on the national teleconsultation platform "Qare" in 4 common infections. 143,428 TCs with structured prescriptions were analyzed, with an appropriate prescription in more than 82% of cases, higher than in the literature. The use of data makes it possible to quickly assess practices and inform doctors to improve their practices.

Pragmatic Considerations on Clinical Decision Support from the 2019 Literature.

OBJECTIVES: To summarize significant research contributions published in 2019 in the field of computerized clinical decision support and select the best papers for the Decision Support section of the International Medical Informatics Association (IMIA) Yearbook. METHODS: Two bibliographic databases were searched for papers referring to clinical decision support systems (CDSSs) and computerized provider order entry (CPOE) systems. From search results, section editors established a list of candidate best papers, which were then peer-reviewed by external reviewers. The IMIA Yearbook editorial committee finally selected the best papers on the basis of all reviews including the section editors' evaluation. RESULTS: A total of 1,378 articles were retrieved. Fifteen best paper candidates were selected, the reviews of which resulted in the selection of three best papers. One paper reports on a guideline modeling approach based on clinical decision trees, both clinically interpretable and suitable for implementation in CDSSs. In another paper, authors promote the use of extended Timed Transition Diagrams in CDSSs to formalize consistently recurrent medical processes for chronic diseases management. The third paper proposes a conceptual framework and a grid for assessing the performance of predictive tools based on the critical appraisal of published evidence. CONCLUSIONS: As showed by the number and the variety of works related to decision support, research in the field is very active. This year's selection highlighted pragmatic works that promote transparency and trust required by decision support tools.

The Regenerative Effect of Trans-spinal Magnetic Stimulation After Spinal Cord Injury: Mechanisms and Pathways Underlying the Effect.

Spinal cord injury (SCI) leads to a loss of sensitive and motor functions. Currently, there is no therapeutic intervention offering a complete recovery. Here, we report that repetitive trans-spinal magnetic stimulation (rTSMS) can be a noninvasive SCI treatment that enhances tissue repair and functional recovery. Several techniques including immunohistochemical, behavioral, cells cultures, and proteomics have been performed. Moreover, different lesion paradigms, such as acute and chronic phase following SCI in wild-type and transgenic animals at different ages (juvenile, adult, and aged), have been used. We demonstrate that rTSMS modulates the lesion scar by decreasing fibrosis and inflammation and increases proliferation of spinal cord stem cells. Our results demonstrate also that rTSMS decreases demyelination, which contributes to axonal regrowth, neuronal survival, and locomotor recovery after SCI. This research provides evidence that rTSMS induces therapeutic effects in a preclinical rodent model and suggests possible translation to clinical application in humans.

Feasibility of encouraging participation in colorectal cancer screening campaigns by motivating people through the social network, Facebook.

AIM: To describe the results of a feasibility phase and the expected results of a new approach to increase the participation rate in a Colorectal Cancer Organized Screening Program (CRCSP) through Facebook awareness messages. METHOD: This approach targets people aged 50-74 years, who reside in an urban deprived area and regularly connect to Facebook. The feasibility phase ran over 2 months (December 2018 and January 2019) in six municipalities (Seine-Saint-Denis, France). The full provisional campaign will run over a year. The approach consists of sending electronic awareness messages on the importance of screening for colorectal cancer using a specific Facebook module. Subjects who consent to screening complete a test-kit application form. The eligibility of each subject to participate in screening is determined by a doctor before the kit is sent out. RESULTS: A total of 39 900 people were reached by the feasibility phase campaign, and 9200 were able to watch at least one Facebook message/video. Of those, 4450 people logged to learn more about the CRCSP, 298 applied for a test kit, 160 test kit applicants were eligible to participate and the test completion rate was 41.9%. According to these feasibility results, 366 120 targeted people would connect regularly in the tested area, 141 541 of whom would be interested in a specific promotional message posted on Facebook. Requests could be made for 9770 kits, with 5246 people being eligible to participate in screening. The expected test-completion rate is estimated at 42%-89%. This would represent 5%-11% of the tests carried out in the area during the same period by 'classical' CRCSP. CONCLUSION: Implementation of the Facebook strategy would significantly improve the rate of participation in the CRCSP by mobilizing people with no previous participation, including younger subjects.

Intra-operative fluorescence angiography is reproducible and reduces the rate of anastomotic leak after colorectal resection for cancer: a prospective case-matched study.

AIM: Intra-operative fluorescence angiography (IOFA) with indocyanine green provides information on tissue perfusion that may help prevent an anastomotic leak (AL). The aim of this study was to assess the impact of IOFA on outcomes after left-sided colonic or low anterior resection with anastomosis for colorectal cancer. METHODS: All patients with left-sided colonic or rectal cancer, operated between June 2017 and December 2018, were prospectively included. IOFA has been routinely implemented since May 2018. Reproducibility of IOFA, after a 1:1 matching for relevant clinical risk factors of AL, was studied in patients with IOFA (IOFA+) and without IOFA (IOFA-). Outcomes were compared in terms of postoperative events such as clinically relevant AL as the primary end-point. RESULTS: In the IOFA+ group, changing of the initially planned colon transection due to inadequate perfusion occurred in five out of 46 patients (10.9%). Agreement between intra-operative assessment and postoperative blind review of IOFA was deemed strong (Cohen's kappa index 0.893, 95% CI 0.788-0.998, P < 0.001). Among 111 patients, 42 matched patients were included in each group. There was significantly more clinically relevant AL in the IOFA- group compared to the IOFA+ group (16.7% vs 2.4%, P = 0.026) involving significantly more anastomotic dehiscence which required re-intervention (19% vs 2.4%, P = 0.014). Additionally, more descending colon ischaemia/necrosis was observed in the IOFA- group compared with the IOFA+ group (9.5% vs 0%, P = 0.040). CONCLUSION: In this prospective case-matched study, IOFA decreased the occurrence of clinically relevant AL due to necrosis of the descending colon or anastomosis. Upon blind review, perfusion assessment using IOFA was reproducible.

Alteration of Swallowing and Ventilation Coordination in Respiratory Diseases in Small Mammals.

In human and animal, swallowing and ventilation are coordinated to avoid laryngeal penetration or tracheal aspiration, and respiration is interrupted during swallowing and resumes in the expiratory phase. Some respiratory diseases may alter this coordination due to impaired lung function. The aim of this study was to evaluate swallowing-ventilation coordination in unrestrained rats with pulmonary emphysema or with pulmonary fibrosis. Two protocols were performed in 38 male Sprague-Dawley rats (2-3 months, 250-300 g): pulmonary emphysema and pulmonary fibrosis. Ventilation during swallowing and swallowing-ventilation coordination were recorded using a whole-body plethysmography and video recordings. The rats were free to take water after 24 h without drinking. Compared to control groups, swallowing frequency was significantly higher in rats with pulmonary emphysema and there was a decrease of swallows during expiration in rats with pulmonary emphysema and in rats with pulmonary fibrosis. In this study, we show that respiratory diseases are associated with changes in swallowing-ventilation coordination and hypothesize that they increase the risk of aspiration.

Effect of liquid properties on swallowing and ventilation coordination in rats.

BACKGROUND: One aspect of rehabilitation in swallowing disorders is to change liquid properties. The objective of our study was to test how liquid properties could improve oropharyngeal dysphagia and swallowing and ventilation coordination in an animal model. METHODS: Forty-two healthy male rats were distributed in six groups, including a control group. Rats were deprived of water for 24 h and then each group was administered liquid with different properties: tap water, sugar water, sparkling water, salt water, cold water, and acidic water. Rats were studied without and with oropharyngeal dysphagia achieved by unilateral section of the hypoglossal nerve. Swallowing and ventilation were analyzed by barometric plethysmograph. KEY RESULTS: In healthy rats, swallowing occurred during expiratory time for all liquid properties. Most deglutitions were during expiratory time for all liquid properties (88±12%) and were not modified. There was an increase in VT/TI during swallowing with sparkling water and cold water (P<.05). In the operated groups, rats had significantly fewer swallows with tap water (P<.05) and significantly more swallows with sparkling water (P<.001), sugar water (P<.001) and cold water (P<.001) during expiratory time. The mean inspiratory volume (VT/TI) increased with sparkling water (P<.05). CONCLUSION AND INFERENCES: Sparkling water seemed to improve swallowing and ventilation coordination in an animal model, to be confirmed in a study including patients with oropharyngeal dysphagia.

Physiological Interpretation of the Slope during an Isokinetic Fatigue Test.

To assess the relationship between selected measures (the slope and average performance) obtained during a high intensity isokinetic fatigue test of the knee (FAT) and relevant measures of anaerobic and aerobic capacities. 20 well-trained cyclists performed 3 randomly ordered sessions involving a FAT consisting in 30 reciprocal maximal concentric contractions of knee flexors and extensors at 180°.s(-1), a maximal continuous graded exercise test (GXT), and a Wingate anaerobic test (WAnT). The slope calculated from peak torque (PT) and total work (TW) of knee extensors was highly associated to maximal PT (r=-0.86) and maximal TW (r=-0.87) measured during FAT, and moderately associated to peak power output measured during the WAnT (r=-0.64 to -0.71). Average PT and average TW were highly associated to maximal PT (r=0.93) and maximal TW (r=0.96), to mean power output measured during WAnT (r=0.83-0.90) and moderately associated to maximal oxygen uptake (0.58-0.67). In conclusion, the slope is mainly determined by maximal anaerobic power, while average performance is a composite measure depending on both aerobic and anaerobic energy systems according to proportions that are determined by the duration of the test.

Balance during walking on an inclined instrumented pathway following incomplete spinal cord injury.

OBJECTIVES: To study the postural adaptations of subjects with incomplete spinal cord injury (iSCI) and non-injured subjects during overground walking on level and inclined surfaces. METHODS: Six subjects with iSCI and seven non-injured subjects walked on an inclined surface (slope: 15%) and a level surface at their natural gait speed and at a slow gait speed (non-injured subjects only). Maximal stabilizing and minimal destabilizing forces were calculated to quantify dynamic balance during walking. Correlational analysis identified the variables that influence these stabilizing and destabilizing forces. RESULTS: Subjects with iSCI and good sensorimotor recovery were similar to non-injured subjects with respect to maximal stabilizing and minimal destabilizing forces when they walked at the same speed. The MaxSF was mainly explained by the center of pressure speed and step length, whereas the minimal destabilizing force was moderately correlated with body mass and height. CONCLUSION: The influence of gait speed on balance should be considered with a group comparison. With regard to dynamic balance, highly functioning subjects with iSCI do not seem to be sufficiently challenged while walking at their preferred gait speed. Asking individuals with subtle impairments to walk faster following an iSCI may reveal postural adaptations and have an effect on balance abilities.

Sleep and wake disturbances following traumatic brain injury.

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a major health concern in industrialised countries. Sleep and wake disturbances are among the most persistent and disabling sequelae after TBI. Yet, despite the widespread complaints of post-TBI sleep and wake disturbances, studies on their etiology, pathophysiology, and treatments remain inconclusive. This narrative review aims to summarise the current state of knowledge regarding the nature of sleep and wake disturbances following TBI, both subjective and objective, spanning all levels of severity and phases post-injury. A second goal is to outline the various causes of post-TBI sleep-wake disturbances. Globally, although sleep-wake complaints are reported in all studies and across all levels of severity, consensus regarding the objective nature of these disturbances is not unanimous and varies widely across studies. In order to optimise recovery in TBI survivors, further studies are required to shed light on the complexity and heterogeneity of post-TBI sleep and wake disturbances, and to fully grasp the best timing and approach for intervention.

A Preference-based framework for medical decision making.

Medical decision making, such as choosing which drugs to prescribe, requires to consider mandatory constraints, e.g. absolute contraindications, but also preferences that may not be satisfiable, e.g. guideline recommendations or patient preferences. The major problem is that these preferences are complex, numerous and come from various sources. The considered criteria are often conflicting and the number of decisions is too large to be explicitly handled. In this paper, we propose a framework for encoding medical preferences using a new connective, called ordered disjunction symbolized by ~×. Intuitively, the preference "Diuretic~×Betablocker means: "Prescribe a Diuretic if possible, but if this is not possible, then prescribe a Betablocker". We give an inference method for reasoning about the preferences and we show how this framework can be applied to a part of a guideline for hypertension.

Orthopedics coding and funding.

The French tarification à l'activité (T2A) prospective payment system is a financial system in which a health-care institution's resources are based on performed activity. Activity is described via the PMSI medical information system (programme de médicalisation du système d'information). The PMSI classifies hospital cases by clinical and economic categories known as diagnosis-related groups (DRG), each with an associated price tag. Coding a hospital case involves giving as realistic a description as possible so as to categorize it in the right DRG and thus ensure appropriate payment. For this, it is essential to understand what determines the pricing of inpatient stay: namely, the code for the surgical procedure, the patient's principal diagnosis (reason for admission), codes for comorbidities (everything that adds to management burden), and the management of the length of inpatient stay. The PMSI is used to analyze the institution's activity and dynamism: change on previous year, relation to target, and comparison with competing institutions based on indicators such as the mean length of stay performance indicator (MLS PI). The T2A system improves overall care efficiency. Quality of care, however, is not presently taken account of in the payment made to the institution, as there are no indicators for this; work needs to be done on this topic.

An Algorithm Using Twelve Properties of Antibiotics to Find the Recommended Antibiotics, as in CPGs.

BACKGROUND: Clinical Decision Support Systems (CDSS) incorporating justifications, updating and adjustable recommendations can considerably improve the quality of healthcare. We propose a new approach to the design of CDSS for empiric antibiotic prescription, based on implementation of the deeper medical reasoning used by experts in the development of clinical practice guidelines (CPGs), to deduce the recommended antibiotics. METHODS: We investigated two methods ("exclusion" versus "scoring") for reproducing this reasoning based on antibiotic properties. RESULTS: The "exclusion" method reproduced expert reasoning the more accurately, retrieving the full list of recommended antibiotics for almost all clinical situations. DISCUSSION: This approach has several advantages: (i) it provides convincing explanations for physicians; (ii) updating could easily be incorporated into the CDSS; (iii) it can provide recommendations for clinical situations missing from CPGs.

Modification in swallowing and ventilation co-ordination during hypercapnia, hypoxia, and tachypnea in unrestrained animals.

BACKGROUND: It has been demonstrated that aspirations could occur during respiratory failure, explained by a lack of co-ordination between swallowing and ventilation. To test this hypothesis, we examined the co-ordination of ventilation and swallowing in a completely unrestrained rat model during different level of hypercapnia, during hypoxia, and during tachypnea. METHODS: A total of 50 male Wistar rats (250-350 g) were studied in a barometric plethysmograph to analyze swallowing and ventilation during swallowing, at different gas concentration [room air (G1), 10% of O2 and 0% of CO2 (G2), 21% of O2 and 5% of CO2 (G3), 21% of O2 and 10% of CO2 (G4), tachypnea (G5)]. KEY RESULTS: During hypoxia, there was no difference between G2 and G1 regarding the swallowing parameters and ventilatory parameters. During hypercapnia, there was an increase in swallowing during inspiration in G4 (16 ± 20%P < 0.01) compared with G1. The analysis of ventilatory parameters during swallowing showed an increase in tidal volume (VT) and mean inspiratory time (VT/TI) (P < 0.001) with no change in respiratory cycle duration (TTOT), inspiratory time (TI), and expiratory time (TE) when compared with G1. During tachypnea (G5), the VT decreased (P < 0.05) without any change in VT/TI. CONCLUSIONS & INFERENCES: Our results on animal demonstrated that hypercapnia increased swallowing during inspiration, which was not the case for tachypnea or hypoxia, and could explain some aspirations during respiratory failure.

Long-term red blood cell exchange in children with sickle cell disease: manual or automatic?

Little information is available on erythrocytapheresis in children with sickle cell disease, and no comparison has ever been made with manual exchanges in a long-term blood exchange program. We matched a historical cohort of five patients who received 60 erythrocytapheresis procedures with five who received 124 manual exchanges. Long-term erythrocytapheresis was feasible and well-tolerated even in children of low weight. In a long-term approach, automated exchanges were more efficient in maintaining a low HbS level, and exchanges could be spaced out. This approach appears especially useful in the cases where the HbS level must be maintained below 30%.

[Benign but not harmless intracranial hypertension: a case report]. / Hypertension intracrânienne bénigne, mais pas anodine. À propos d'un cas.

Benign intracranial hypertension (BIH) is characterized as an intracranial pressure increase occurring in the absence of brain tumour, sinus thrombosis or hydrocephaly. But contrary to what its designation might suggest, it threatens the visual prognosis. We report the case of a 15-year-old girl with lymphocytic meningitis, developing secondary a BIH. Cerebrospinal fluid pressure was 70cm water, without enlargement of the cerebral ventricles. Along with the progression, bilateral 6th nerve palsy, impairment of visual acuity and bilateral papilledema appeared. No cause was found after a complete assessment. Treatment consisted in oral acetazolamide and 9 depletive spinal taps. Clinical examination, fundus examination and Goldmann visual field normalized after 8 weeks. No relapse occurred after a 1-year follow-up. This case shows that BIH, which is not a well-known disorder, is incorrectly referred to as benign: both prompt diagnosis and proper management are of major importance.

Destabilizing and stabilizing forces to assess equilibrium during everyday activities.

Postural stability is essential to functional activities. This paper presents a new model of dynamic stability which takes into account both the equilibrium associated with the body position over the base of support (destabilizing force) and the effort the subject needs to produce to keep his/her centre of mass inside the base of support (stabilizing force). The ratio between these two forces (destabilizing over stabilizing) is calculated to provide an overall index of stability for an individual. Preliminary results from data collected during walking at preferred and maximal safe speed in four older adults (aged from 64 to 84yr) showed that both forces are lower for subjects with reduced maximal gait speed. In addition, the stabilizing force increases by 2-3 times from preferred to maximal speed, while the destabilizing force barely changes with gait speed. Overall, the model through the index of stability attributes lower dynamic stability to subjects with lower maximal gait speed. These preliminary results call for larger-scale studies to pursue the development and validation of the model and its application to different functional tasks.

Electrical stimulation and muscle strengthening.

OBJECTIVES: To identify the effects of application methods and indications of direct muscle electrostimulation on strength gain. METHODS: Literature review and analysis of articles from Medline database with the following entries: muscular or neuromuscular, electromyostimulation, electrical stimulation, strengthening, strength training, immobilization, muscle dystrophy, bed-rest, bed-bound, knee or hip surgery, postoperative phase, cachexia, sarcopenia, and their French equivalent. RESULTS: Because of its specific muscle recruitment order, different from that of voluntary contraction, direct muscle electrostimulation is theoretically a complementary tool for muscle strengthening. It can be used in healthy subjects and in several affections associated with muscle function loss. Its interest seems well-established for post-traumatic or postsurgery lower-limb immobilizations but too few controlled studies have clearly shown the overall benefits of its application in other indications. Whatever the indication, superimposed or combined electrostimulation techniques are generally more efficient than electrostimulation alone. CONCLUSION: Even though widely used, the level of evidence for the efficiency of electromyostimulation is still low. For strength gains, it yielded no higher benefits than traditional strengthening methods. Its interest should be tested in medical affections leading to major muscle deconditioning or in sarcopenia.